Kital
by J01211
Summary: A strange hyena is born and later loses his eyesight, but gains something unusual.
1. Prologue

Kital

Chapter 1: Prologue

It was a typical day in the Outlands. Dark and dreary and just plain boring, but it was also not a very safe place. Food was scarce and diseases were abundant. In this godforsaken place, a perseverant hyena named Shilana gave birth to a wonderful male ball of fur that immediately seemed unusual. He was fairly muscular looking and had a spot of light colored fur on his forehead that almost seemed to glow.

"You know," said Shilana, "this could be a sign that he could help restore our kind back to the Pridelands."

"Well I guess so," said Markal, Shilana's mate, "you don't see this happen very often."

Both hyenas stared in awe at their new bundle of joy. Just then, another hyena appeared to them and seemed to be very excited. He was even jumping up and down and babbling many words unintelligibly. 

"Hey, slow down," said Markal, "calm down and tell us what you're here for."

The hyena talked more slowly, "Some lion with a dark mane has started a rally with the other hyenas, I think you should at least take a look." He then ran off, jumping and skipping away with glee.

"What would a lion be doing in the Outlands," asked Shilana with a puzzled look.

"Heh, who knows," Markal answered, "maybe that lion flipped his lid and thinks he's a hyena. Or maybe he's just here to make a fool of himself and entertain us. I wouldn't complain though, it's been pretty dull here for a long time and needs something out of the ordinary."

"Yeah," said Shilana, "and maybe we could laugh and point and have some fun with this lunatic." They both giggled heartily.

"Hey Shilana, before we forget, have you thought of a name for our cub?"

"Well, the name I have in mind is kind of dumb, but I think it's cute. I'll call him Kital."

"Well, you surely have a creative mind. I think it's cute too. Now let's see what's going on." They carefully took their cub along and went the same way that strange hyena ran off.

Meanwhile, Rafiki, the well-known baboon shaman was having a rather disturbing dream. When he woke up, he knew it was a sign of a future student. He's never had a student before, so he figured that this would be very interesting.

(Kital in their language means "spot," obviously referring to the light colored spot of fur on Kital's forehead. It's pronounced like "key" and "tall." The accent is on the "key"). 


	2. An Unwanted Visitor

Chapter 2: An unwanted visitor

(This takes place after The Lion King II: Simba's Pride)

It was a typical day in the Pridelands. Bright, lively and a great place to live (at least for the lions that is). Food was abundant and was a near paradise (especially when compared to the Outlands). No more worries about Scar and his army of weird hyenas, especially his three right hand hyenas who have never been seen for ages. Zira and her pride of lions moved to some far away territory, so there's no worries about them.

Simba was starting to show some signs of aging (he's about two years older than his father Mufasa was when he died). Kiara and Kovu had twins, a male and a female cub together, and they were smiling ear to ear when this happened. They later started arguing over what their names should be. But later that day, a surprise visitor was in the Pridelands.

"You know," said Simba, "I must be going senile from my age because I think I see a hyena wandering around on the Prideland territory boundary." 

Immediately, all heads turned and looked in the direction Simba was looking, and sure enough, there was indeed a hyena that's walking across the plains like it owned the place. 

"That hyena could be a scout or a spy," Simba said frantically, "we have to stop it before it returns to the Outlands." 

Simba and the other lions sprung up and were ready to charge towards the hyena. But before they did, Kiara stopped him.

"Father, this could be dangerous. I don't want to risk you getting hurt especially at your age."

Simba made a short, quick laugh. "What makes you think that one measly hyena stands a chance against me, or all of us?"

Kiara had a strong look of concern on her face. "Well, this could be a trap or an ambush. Therefore I can't risk you being involved in this."

"Look," Simba answered with a firm tone, "I may be aging, I'm even living longer than my own father was (of course it wasn't a natural death), but I know that I can still defend myself and even defend you or the other lions if necessary. Besides, with all of us together, there shouldn't be any trouble. Instead, I want you to stay here and watch over your children. They're our future you know." Kiara made a long sigh of defeat and agreed. Immediately, Simba and the other lions ran off to face the wandering hyena that already was near Rafiki's tree.

Meanwhile, Rafiki was cleaning his tree after a large flock of birds flew overhead that morning and made quite a mess on his tree. "You know," said Rafiki to himself, "if this keeps up every year, I may need to build a giant umbrella over my tree. This is getting rather annoying and disgusting." He took a break from his chores and noticed someone passing by near his tree. He looked down and was so shocked that he nearly fell out of his tree.

"A hyena," Rafiki said to himself with a shocked and puzzled look, "what's a hyena doing here and now, there's no way it could survive with all the lions around. I guess it must be suicidal. But something about it seems strangely familiar. However, I've never seen this hyena,..... or have I?"

He noticed the hyena lying down in the shade of his tree, seemingly unaware of the large group of lions charging towards it. Rafiki decided to make a quick, but cautious investigation of the hyena. He brought his staff along for defense and crept carefully towards the stranger. He made note that the lions are now less than half a mile away which gives him less than a minute to investigate. 

The first thing Rafiki noticed is the unusual size of the hyena. Hyenas normally are only about half the size of a full-grown lion. This particular hyena is easily as big as a lioness, though not quite as big as a male lion. It also had impressive muscle mass that easily bulged through its thick, coarse fur. He got closer, only a few feet away from its face. He had to make certain about a strong feeling he had. He noticed that it had long mane fur and fairly long head fur (the head fur has a similar design to Shenzi, but slightly longer), and had a couple small bangs sticking out. The head fur and bangs blocked a clear view of its face. 

He felt inclined to retreat and let the lions deal with the hyena, but he just needed to do one more risky but important action. 


	3. Getting to know the stranger

Chapter 3: Getting to know the stranger

With steady hands, Rafiki used his staff to carefully move away the head fur and bangs to take a good look at its face. He was ready to spring back up to his tree if the hyena attacks. What he saw made his skin crawl and all the hair on his body stood on its end.

The hyena's face was bloody looking. It had three or four slash scars across its face and eyes, and most of the bleeding was coming from its eyes. He made note that its left eyelid was pushed in, meaning that its left eye was gouged out. There was some blood seeping out the other eyelid, but its eyeball must still be there. He pushed the head fur higher and saw what he was looking for. It's not very often that you see a hyena with a light tan spot right on its forehead. 

Just then, he noticed the eyelids open and what he saw nearly made Rafiki faint. Its left eye was indeed gouged out and its right eye had strange discoloration and was obviously badly infected. He then heard a low growling sound and before he could react, the hyena used lightning quick moves to snatch away Rafiki's staff into its mouth and then snapped it in half like a twig. 

Meanwhile, Kovu being the strongest of the pride (Simba isn't as strong as he used to be, what a bummer) pushed on ahead in an attempt to throw the first attack or at least distract it before the rest arrive. He noticed that the hyena is now up and is about to attack Rafiki. Unfortunately, Kovu is still a few seconds away and he may be too late. Therefore, he did the next best thing, he roared at the hyena as loud as he could to hopefully distract the hyena and give Rafiki a chance to escape.

"You know what," said the strange hyena, "I feel like I've seen you before somehow." The hyena was definitely male and his tone of voice was as deep as Scar's.

"Same here," answered Rafiki, "lately I've been having dreams and visions of your arrival to the Pridelands. That bright spot on your forehead is a dead giveaway that you may be the one from my dreams. How are yours eyes though, they look terrible?"

The hyena had a fairly surprised look on his face. "You know, I too had a dream about someone like you. You are supposed to remove the pain from my body, especially my eyes. Well actually my right eye, it's too late for my left."

He then heard a loud roar and looked in its direction. He saw a large male lion charging towards him and he quickly went into a defensive stance to face the lion. Kovu finally arrived to the hyena, but he quickly skidded to a halt and just stared with a shocked look. He's never seen or heard of a hyena anywhere near this big, it was almost as big as himself. Kovu knew that this could be a bigger problem than he thought. He then heard a very deep growl coming from the hyena, it was deeper than most adult male lions. Then it did something that he never knew that a hyena could. It roared, and it roared as loud as any lion could, and this nearly made Kovu jump back.

"Is this hyena a freak or something? Am I in a nightmare or what?"

Freak or no freak, Kovu wasn't about to let the hyena's intimidations scare him away. Just then, the hyena reared up and charged toward him! Kovu quickly regained his senses and he too charged at the hyena. Rafiki quickly leapt as hard as he could and landed on the hyena's back. He then quickly jumped off like a springboard and landed between Kovu and the hyena and then put his hands out to stop them. Kovu and the hyena skidded to a stop, and right after this, Simba and the rest of the lions finally arrived. 

"Rafiki," Simba frantically yelled, "get out of here, this dangerous!"


	4. Everyone, Meet Kital

Chapter 4: Everyone, Meet Kital

This is a rather interesting scene. You have a pride of about a dozen full-grown lions on one side, a single unusually large hyena on the other, and a baboon right between them. Looks almost like a riot scene with the baboon trying to break it up.

"What are you doing here," Simba demanded hysterically, "explain yourself, now!" The hyena just stared with its single eye defiantly, completely unaffected.

"Simba, everyone, please control yourselves," Rafiki pleaded, "this is not what it appears to be. This hyena is going to be my student."

"Huh!?" Simba and the other lions exclaimed in unison, and with a very shocked look.

"Whaaat!?" The hyena almost screamed, also with a very shocked face.

Rafiki gave his best explanation. "Look. Simba, everyone, I have to tell you all about the dreams and visions that I've been having lately. The first of these dreams occurred a few days before Mufasa died from that wildebeest stampede. In those dreams, I was meditating in the middle of a vast plain when the ground started shaking. It felt like a herd of wildebeest or elephants were passing by and then there was a very thick dust storm. When the dust settled, there was a huge beast right in front of me. The shape of the beast was hard to make out, but I did see two glowing eyes. Next thing I know, its left eye disappeared, then its right eye disappeared. What happened next terrified me. A bright spot appeared on its forehead and immediately changed into an eye. This eye was different, it seemed to be connected directly to its mind. I was about to defend myself, but I couldn't move. Then the third eye glowed very bright, almost blinding me. I then heard a deep, loud voice in my head saying: 'I want you to help me. I am in agony and I need your help. In return, I will become your best pupil.' I strongly believe that this hyena could be the one from my visions and dreams."

Simba and his pride of lions, even the hyena, were staring in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me," Simba said, almost laughing, "a hyena being here in the Pridelands just to be your student?" Simba knew that he should at least respect Rafiki, but this was just too much for anyone to handle. "Rafiki, I'm not about to let the Prideland's reputation become ruined by allowing a dirty, smelly, disease-ridden hyena to live here. Now please step aside and let us handle this."

Rafiki was now almost losing control of his temper. It makes sense that it would be hard to find word that will support the hyena, after all, this is an extremely unusual situation. "Please Simba, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. After all, there's only one of him and many of you. I'm going to make him my responsibility if this makes you feel better, and you know that I'm very good at keeping my responsibility in check. Why don't you leave a few lions here to keep guard over him?"

Simba thought long and hard about this and then called Kovu. Simba and Kovu walked a short distance away to talk. "Well Kovu," Simba asked, "what do you think of Rafiki's idea? Do you think it's worth our time and safety to keep this hyena around?"

"I'm not someone that would question Rafiki's thoughts," Kovu answered, "however, we cannot risk driving that hyena away. There's no telling what he might tell the other hyenas about what he's seen or learned in the Pridelands. Besides, if he's stupid enough to pull something off, he's going to pay with his life and I'm sure that he knows this."

"My thoughts exactly," said Simba, "which is why I've chosen you to guard that hyena. And just to be safe, I'm sending two more lions to help you out. So, do you think that you're up to the challenge?"

"Um, well, uh," Kovu stuttered, "I guess it shouldn't be too much of a problem but, why me."

Simba answered as best as he could, "when Scar rounded up his hyenas and took over the Pridelands, you were the only lion that wasn't there. All of the lions and I experienced first-hand the mayhem that they caused. Therefore, I have too much hatred towards hyenas in my heart. I believe that you will do a better job guarding the hyena better than any other lion."

Simba and Kovu walked back to Rafiki and the hyena and explained their plan to them. Both Rafiki and the hyena agreed to this, then every lion except Kovu and two others returned to Pride Rock.

"Okay," said Rafiki, "before any other problems occur, I would like to know your name."

"My name is Kital," answered the hyena, "in my native language it means 'spot' and I'm proud of my name."

Kovu and the other two lions overheard this and started chuckling. "Spot?," said Kovu in a rather girlish tone, "that's a pretty sissy name don't you think? Oh, look at me, my name is Kital, but you can call me spot." The other two lions started laughing aloud. 

Kital quickly stared them down in disgust. "That's Kital to you!," he almost screamed.

Rafiki shook his head in disappointment. "Oh just ignore them. I guess they're not used to having a hyena as a playmate."

The three lions sopped laughing. "A playmate!? Yeah right, as if!"

Rafiki continued, "next, I would like to know your life story. Tell me as much as you know before you arrived here."

"I will under one condition," answered Kital.

"Yes, what is it"?

"You tell me a little about your life story."

"Wow," said Rafiki in surprise, "nobody's ever asked me that before, not even Simba. I hope I can remember some memories. Now tell me what you know."

"All right," said Kital, somewhat anxious, "I'll do my best." 


	5. Kital's Past

Chapter 5: Kital's Past

"My mother and father always told me that I was a very special hyena, unfortunately, Scar had the same idea. My parents figured that Scar must have some hidden reason for rounding up all the hyenas onto his side. When they found out later that he was responsible for the death of his own brother Mufasa, they knew that this lion is evil and could actually bring about the end of our kind instead of restoring it. They decided to start a small band of resistance against Scar, but it failed before it even started."

"Scar used my parents as examples to the other hyenas about the consequences for opposing them. He attacked my father Markal first and quickly snapped his neck. As for my mother Shilana, he didn't hurt her at first. But then an evil grin appeared on his face and he said: 'Kill her.'" 

"Immediately, over a dozen hyenas sprung up and attacked her from all sides, obviously she didn't stand a chance. Scar had brainwashed the hyenas so completely that they didn't care that they were attacking their own kind. To them there were only two kinds: those who favor Scar and those who oppose him. The ones that oppose him don't live much longer." 

"All of this happened right in front of me, and I was forced to watch as my parents were murdered. He then asked me in a calm, but ominous voice about who's side I'm on. I was still too shocked about my parents fate and I just froze without saying anything. What happened after that is still a blank in my memory, but I do know that I ended up becoming Scars top security fighter." 

"He saw lots of potential in me and decided to train me into an even more vicious creature that no hyena was capable of. He had a strange way of teaching me how to fight, he didn't teach me any moves or techniques. Instead, he would tell me to use any means necessary to stay alive, which means that I have to come up with my own moves and techniques. Sometimes he would attack me, other times he would send several of his hyenas at me." 

"The first few months of his 'training' was extremely harsh and torturous to say the least. My muscle mass and body size increased to incredible size, especially for a hyena. Eventually, I was battle hardened and was ready to keep any hyenas in check and eliminate any hyenas who opposed Scar. But I was not totally ruthless, because deep inside, I was plotting to make Scar pay for what he did to my parents and what he did to my kind. It was several years later when the opportunity appeared in the form of Simba's return." 

"When Scar tried to convince Simba that it wasn't his fault and put the blame on us, that finally made my mind snap. The other hyenas weren't amused either, they were totally furious and so was I. After Simba flipped Scar of the place called Pride Rock, we all attacked him for betraying us." 

"It was one single lion against dozens of hyenas. Obviously, Scar didn't stand a chance and I decided to use this opportunity to exact my revenge on Scar. He did make one pathetic attempt to defend himself and I still think that it was a lucky shot. He slashed across my just before I attacked him and he took out my left eye, literally. I did the same thing that he did to my father, I bit his neck and snapped it as hard as I could. I found the bone crunching sound to be very satisfying, however, I didn't realize that I was bleeding badly. The world around me started to spin and go dark, and the last thing I saw was my left eyeball sticking onto one of Scar's claws." 

"When I woke up back in the Outlands, I was hoping that it was a nightmare, but I realized that I could no longer see with my left eye since it really wasn't there anymore. I became bitter for a short time, but when I found out that Scar, the murderer of my parents and the corruptor of my kind was really dead, I started to feel slightly better."

"Okay." Rafiki interrupted, "how did you survive in this condition for all these years without dying of infection from your eyes (or what's left of them)?"

"It wasn't easy," Kital answered, "you see, the Outlands isn't quite as dead and barren as you think. There are a few plants scattered here and there that are used for medicine. I managed to find a few of these plants and used them to heal most of the infection. But these plants only help for a few days, then the infection would return. Also, every time I use the plants, they become less and less effective. Recently, the plants don't seem to help anymore, so I made a desperate decision to visit the Pridelands for any help if possible. But before I left, I had a dream about a monkey or baboon that was a shaman and could possibly be helpful. The dream told me to go to the Pridelands to find this shaman."

"And here you are now," said Rafiki, "I'll do my best to help you."

"Wait," said Kital, "you said that you would tell me your life story."

"I will," said Rafiki, "but that eye of yours needs some serious attention. I'll tell you my story while I create some medicine for your eye." 


	6. Kital's Loss

Chapter 6: Kital's Big Loss

Author's note: I'm not really going to clutter this story with Rafiki's life story, after all this fanfic is mainly about Kital. However, parts of Rafiki's story will be mentioned in this fanfic. Now to proceed with the story.

"Wow," said Kital in amazement, "you certainly have had an exciting life. That's a lot of adventures you've had, must have been quite an experience."

"These days I still do have adventures," Rafiki said, "but now it's quite rare since I became of great use to the Pridelands long ago." Rafiki had just finished preparing Kital's medicine and he brought it to him. "That infection in your eye is very bad, so this is going to sting a lot."

"It doesn't matter Rafiki," Kital said, "the pain can't possibly be as much as the pain I'm in right now."

Rafiki was just about to put on the medicine when a strong breeze blew by and kicked up some dust. Unfortunately, some of the dust blew into Kital's badly infected eye, which caused tremendous pain to Kital. He immediately began screaming and yelling in agony which quickly called the attention of Kovu and the two lions and they ran over to see what's happening (they were really close by, so they arrived almost instantly). 

Kovu and the lions saw Kital screaming in pain and stumbling around while having one paw over his eyes. They also noticed Rafiki chasing him around and making futile attempts to calm Kital down. After a few seconds of staring dumbfounded at the situation, they decided to help if possible. Rafiki asked Kovu and his helpers to restrain Kital without hurting him. They couldn't get close because Kital was moving too much and getting a good grip on him was hard.

Finally, Kital tripped on a rock near Rafiki's tree and slammed headfirst into the tree trunk. This immediately knocked Kital unconscious, and now Rafiki has to deal with an eye infection and a head injury.

When Kital woke up, he noticed that it was pitch black, he couldn't see his paw in front of his face. "Hey, what's going on," Kital said in a worried tone, "did the sun turn itself off or something?" He blinked several times and noticed that the pain in his eye is gone. But something didn't feel right, it felt strange. 

He then heard a voice out of the darkness, it sounded like Rafiki. "You've been out cold for two days, that must have been quite a bump on your head. Just to let you know, I healed the infection in your eye. As for your vision though, I couldn't save it."

"W-what do you mean?," Kital asked, afraid to really know, "what are you saying?"

"Well I hate to break this to you," Rafiki said hesitantly, "but I'm afraid that you're blind. I'm sorry, I couldn't save your vision, the infection was just too severe."

The news hit Kital as if a mountain fell on him. He was now totally blind, his whole world practically disappearing from existence forever. The startling realization now started to make his blood boil as rage started to build up rapidly in his body and mind.

"Aaaaaaaaaaagh," Kital started screaming hysterically at the top of his lungs, "what did you do to me!? You were supposed to help me, now you've taken everything from me! Where are you, I've got a bone to pick with you!" 

He started slashing his claws if front of him, hoping to hit something. Kovu and his helpers watched from nearby and noticed that Kital was futilely slashing at the air in front of him and screaming while Rafiki is safely up in the tree above Kital's head. It was a very humorous sight to them and they started laughing and pointing.

Kital eventually exhausted himself and gave up screaming and slashing. He then curled up into a ball on the ground and started sobbing (even though he's blind, he can still cry). The lions stopped laughing and for the first time, Kovu and his helpers were actually starting to feel sorry for Kital. 


	7. Kital's Bitternes

Chapter 7: Kital's Bitterness

Kital had conveniently found a place to sleep under Rafiki's tree. However, the next few days were nothing less than hectic. Every time he wakes up, it's like night time to him, he never gets to see the sun ever again. Kital later became so depressed that he made a few suicide attempts. Luckily, Rafiki asked Kovu and his helpers to watch over him in order to keep Kital from killing himself, at least until Rafiki can talk some sense into him.

One time, Kital took a large stone and tried to swallow it so that he would choke to death (he found it by feeling around the ground with his paws). And one suicide attempt nearly succeeded, he found another stone with sharp corners and smashed himself over the head with it, giving himself a severe concussion. He was unconscious for three days, but miraculously made a full recovery.

The next day after his recovery, Rafiki noticed that Kital wasn't feeling any different and was afraid that he may attempt suicide again. On Kital's first day, Rafiki had asked Kovu to give Kital a small share of meat to eat. But lately he's hardly eating anymore and is starting to look rather thin. Seeing that Kital's depression isn't getting any better, Rafiki finally decided to give him a long talk. 

"Uh, Kital," Rafiki said, trying to get the blind hyena's attention, "you remember my dream very well, don't you?"

Kital just nodded silently.

"Then tell me what happened after the beast's two eyes disappeared."

Kital took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "A third eye appeared on its forehead. This eye was connected directly to the beast's mind, and you even said that it glowed, right?"

"That's right," Rafiki said in an almost cheerful mood, "I believe that you losing your eyesight was meant to happen and that a third eye is supposed to appear somehow on your forehead, right where that spot on your forehead is. I think that spot is a clue to what happens next."

"Wait a minute," Kital said, somewhat confused, "now that I think about it, am I supposed to be some kind of three-eyed freak?"

"Not really," answered Rafiki, "you're forgetting that two of those eyes are blind, leaving only the third with sight."

"So now I'm supposed to see by using my forehead?" Kital was now getting very confused and even annoyed by Rafiki's explanation. 

"I don't really know yet," Rafiki said, trying to calm Kital down, "that spot on your forehead, which I'll just call your birthmark from now on, must hold a special clue which I think I know, but I must test this."

Over the next several days, Rafiki talked some more to Kital in order to help him feel better and understand more about his "birthmark." He started eating again and regained his body mass and became healthy again (except for his eyes of course). Rafiki decided to take the next step and train Kital a few moves and maybe find more about the connection between his dreams and Kital's birthmark. The good news is that most of Kital's depression is finally gone, but some is still deep inside his mind which may not disappear anytime soon, but it's a start.

"Alright!" Rafiki is hyped up and ready to start training Kital. "Now let's begin. If I remember correctly, you said that you've already received some "training" from Scar. So, are you ready?"

Kital was hesitant, but also seemed confident. "Of course."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to be as harsh of a trainer as Scar," Rafiki said reassuringly, "and unlike him, I'm actually going to teach you some techniques."

"Okay," Kital said, now more confident, "what do we do first?"


	8. Training Time

Chapter 8: Training Time

"First, let's see what your body can take." Rafiki seemed very optimistic about this training session and hopes to learn more about Kital. "Don't take this the wrong, but I need to see how many hits your body can take, that way we can see how sturdy your body is. This will determine how hard I should train you. Those injuries that you've been giving yourself have all healed, so that shouldn't be a problem." It just so happened that Rafiki had a spare staff in his tree, so he decided to use this. "I'm going use my staff for this lesson, all right? First stand up straight on all four legs."

"Try not to go easy on me," Kital said with great confidence, "but also, try not to hit my face, it's too badly damaged already."

Without hesitating, Rafiki swung his staff at Kital's lower legs, causing the hyena to fall flat on his face. Kital almost lost his temper, but figured that it's part of the training, so he let it go. "I hope that you will learn from that little move." Rafiki then warned him that he was about to do it again. To counter this, Kital quickly dug his front claws into the ground. When the staff hit his front legs again, they didn't even move, though they stung slightly.

"Oh come on Rafiki," Kital taunted, "I'm sure you can hit harder than that."

"All right, you asked for it." Rafiki raised his staff over his head and whacked the hyena upside the head as hard as he could. He was hoping that Kital could withstand the hit. However, he got a bit more than that, and this shocked Rafiki. Kital was completely unaffected by the attack! Rafiki then looked down as his staff and noticed that it was broken in half. "Well, there goes my other staff."

"Uh Rafiki, I think a beetle just landed on by head," Kital said and started chuckling, half-mocking Rafiki's efforts.

"H-how, how did that not affect you," Rafiki asked, astonished.

Kital felt the ground and found a small stone. Before Rafiki could do anything, the crazy hyena smashed the stone on his own head like before. This time the stone split into several pieces, but Kital didn't seem affected, he wasn't even the least bit dazed! "I guess all that abuse I've been giving myself has somehow made my body tougher." 

"Well I must say that I'm very impressed," Rafiki said in amazement, "I didn't expect anything like this so soon. I think we'll just continue on to the next lesson."

Next, Rafiki decided to teach Kital about meditation. "This next lesson is quite boring, but remember, a strong body needs a strong mind and this lesson will be most helpful." After several hours of practicing breathing and meditation techniques, Kital just barely seemed to understand this lesson. His traumatic experiences throughout his life have made meditation difficult.

"I understand that losing your parents and your eyesight has messed up your emotions," Rafiki said, trying to comfort the Hyena, " but try to use those experiences to help make yourself stronger."

Kital hesitated for a while. "All right, I'll try."

The next day, Rafiki decided to teach him some "special" techniques. Being aware of Kital's hard "training" in the past, Rafiki decided to add his own techniques as well. "Kital, this may sound like a silly question, but besides sight what are the other senses of the body?"

Kital didn't even have to think to answer this. "There's hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Why?"

"Did you know," Rafiki explained, "that it's possible to use your other remaining senses to help make up for your lost eyesight? I have trained myself in this situation long ago, and I still remember how it goes."

"Yes, I remember," Kital replied, "you started this kind of training just before you first arrived at the Pridelands. You said so in your life story."

"I will give you a small demonstration of my training long ago. Kovu and his helpers can be witnesses." Rafiki called Kovu and his helpers over and quickly explained to them about what's about to happen. 

Rafiki returned his attention to Kital. "Do you remember those meditation techniques that you learned?"

"Of course, why?"

"Those meditation techniques, when mastered correctly, can heighten all of your remaining senses, making them more...well...sensitive. I want you to give it a try."

Earlier that day, Rafiki spent some time to make another staff that he would use later that day. "You see this staff? Uh, I mean I have another staff here that I will use for this lesson." (Duh, Kital can't "see" the staff). "Use those meditation techniques to increase your senses and your ability to fight."

Kital sat down and concentrated as hard as he could. He then began to hear and smell much more sensitively. He can almost "taste" air and he could hear the wind, even though the air was calm. Many different smells that he didn't notice before began to flood his sense of smell. 

Suddenly, all of his senses changed simultaneously. There was a strong smell of wood, and he heard the sound of the wind change on the left side of his head. Almost instantly, an image appeared in his brain that gave him a vague idea about what's happening. Then immediately, he put up his left paw over the left side of his head and felt something hit it. It wasn't a very hard hit, but it was enough for him to notice. 

As soon as the hit landed, he was able to feel the texture of the object that hit him. The texture felt a lot like smoothed out wood, and he remembered that just before he went blind, he got a good glance at Rafiki's staff and it was smoothed out wood! Could it be that the object that hit him was Rafiki's staff? But Rafiki didn't even warn him about any hits that he would deliver. Could this be part of the training?

Immediately, his senses changed again and felt the air change near his feet. He made a quick hop into the air and then heard a whoosh sound go under him. He even felt a quick wind pass underneath.

"Rafiki, what's going on? I felt some strange sensations that I've never felt before."

"I just swung my staff at you twice," Rafiki replied, "the first one almost hit you on the left side of your head. The second one almost tripped you off your feet, but you hopped in the air and I missed."

"Wait, what just happened to me?" Kital was starting to get freaked out.

"It's simple," Rafiki replied, "your meditation has greatly increased your senses. You can now sense things that were not recognized before. I believe that you're starting to get the hang of this."

"Wow!" For a while, Kital was almost speechless. "Can we do this again?"

Kovu and his helpers stared, completely dumbfounded. "I wonder if I'm still dreaming," Kovu said to himself and gave himself a pinch, "Ow! I guess not."


	9. Look Out, Kital!

Chapter 9: Look out, Kital!

A new day has come over the Pridelands. The morning sun bringing in some fresh warmth for the entire day. Though Kital couldn't see the sun, its warmth was enough to wake him up from under Rafiki's tree to start the new day. Kital smelled the air and smelled some fresh meat nearby, possibly leftovers from Kovu, and felt around the ground for it. After a few seconds of groping around, he found the meat and started eating contently. When he finished eating, he felt the ground shaking slightly. He listened carefully and heard a rumbling sound to his left. 

"Hey Rafiki," Kital called out, "what's happening? It sounds like a stampede or something."

Rafiki quickly woke up and noticed the rumbling as well. He looked very carefully towards the sound and saw a large herd of wildebeest approaching. They weren't coming directly at them, but Rafiki thought it's best to get out of the way just in case. Kovu and his helpers also woke up from the ruckus and noticed the approaching herd. Rafiki and the lions also saw a few lionesses running by the wildebeest. Kiara was one of them, and obviously they're on the hunt. However, they don't seem to be doing very well.

Kovu and his helpers sprung up and decided to help. Perhaps they could at least divert the herd away from the area, because they noticed that the herd has shifted course and were now headed directly for Rafiki and Kital! Rafiki jumped up into his tree for safety, but his hyena student may not as safe. Even Rafiki didn't exactly know where the wildebeest would pass by, and by the time he does know, it will be too late to warn the hyena. And if Kital were to know where he should move to avoid the herd, he would have to make at least a quick meditation and concentrate, but with this noise that will be difficult.

Kovu and his two helpers managed to arrive at the herd and divert it just enough to barely pass by the tree without any danger to Rafiki or Kital. The sound of all the wildebeest was deafening though. Unfortunately, one wildebeest was slightly away from the herd and was headed straight for Kital! Rafiki saw this from his tree and was about to yell out to Kital to watch out, but before he could, his hyena student did something that astounded him.

Just before the wildebeest impacted Kital, he jumped very high into the air and the wildebeest ran right under him! After he landed back on the ground, the wildebeest continued running off with rest of the herd. Seeing that the danger had passed, Rafiki jumped out of his tree to congratulate his student. He started wondering how Kital sensed the wildebeest approaching even though he didn't heighten his senses yet. Before Rafiki reached Kital, he noticed something glowing under his long head fur and bangs. 

"Uh, hey Rafiki." Kital was now completely freaked out. "Didn't I lose my eyesight some time ago?"

"Um, yes." Rafiki was starting to get freaked out as well.

"Then how come I can see you?" Kital started to lose control of himself and seemed very frightened.

"Is that so?" Rafiki calmed down and decided to use a very simple test, so Rafiki walked up to Kital to ask a simple question. "How many fingers am I holding up?" Rafiki put up four fingers.

"Duh, it's four," Kital sounded slightly insulted, "I can count you know. I'm as dumb as you think most hyenas are."

"Okay then." Rafiki stood on his hands and put up six toes, as if they were his fingers. "Now how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Um, those aren't your fingers." Kital now sounded very insulted. "Look, are you trying to make fun of me? I almost got ran over by a wildebeest with a sprained leg!"

"Wow," Rafiki said, astonished, "how did you know that wildebeest had a sprained leg? You know, there's something glowing on your forehead. Let me take a look."

Kital lowered his head and allowed Rafiki to brush away the head fur and bangs from his forehead. The baboon shaman was very impressed at what he saw, it was just like in his dream and visions. Kital's birthmark on his forehead was glowing brightly. It also didn't look like an ordinary spot anymore, it looked more like a glowing eyeball. (Somewhat similar to Yu-Gi's glowing eye from Yu-Gi-Oh, assuming that you've seen it of course).

"It's strange," Kital said, "it's like I can see better than I ever had before. I even saw the way that wildebeest was moving and somehow I knew it was limping. In fact, I think it's more broken then sprained. I even felt its heart beating and I think that it's having a heart attack." He then spoke to Kovu who just returned, "I think one of the wildebeest may be unconscious. He you follow the direction where the herd ran to, you might find it and have an easy meal."

Kovu had a very puzzled look and didn't quite believe what he just heard. He looked at Rafiki and saw him nodding in agreement. Kovu quickly called his two assistants and they ran over to the exhausted lionesses to tell them what Kital just said.

"Hey, Kital," Rafiki asked, "how do you feel right now?"

"It feels very weird," Kital replied, "it feels......(groans)......I feel kind of lightheaded." The glowing on his forehead died down, leaving his birthmark in its place. Kital suddenly lost his balance and fell flat on his side and lost consciousness.

"Kital! Wake up! Hey, you all right." Rafiki tapped his staff on the unconscious hyena's head, yet he didn't even move. He heard the hyena breathing, so he was still alive. 


End file.
